Either Side of the Door
by GrayDove
Summary: KentLyn oneshot a nice mix of angst and fluff. After it is arranged that she should marry Eliwood for the sake of an alliance, Lyn must decide whether to take action or simply let things be decided for her.


**A/N: **Okay, so I'm not working on my AU fic. So what? pouts I just moved to college, and my entire motivation is kind of screwed up. Anyways, this is a Kent/Lyn piece. Agsty-fluff. Inspired by a beautiful picture whose URL I don't want to give away, because I almost feel like it's just for me. (Okay, so I'm unreasonable. It's past one in the morning, and I'm tired!)

**Disclaimer**: Nope. Not yet.

I should be happy. But I am not.

I am to be wed, to an equally unhappy Eliwood, before the next winter. Sometimes I think that life would be so much easier if he and I could cast off the opinions of others, and wed the commoners that we love.

You see, when Ninian passed through the Dragon's Gate, I did not think that Eliwood could love again. Yet when the small group exited the building, he pulled a wide-eyed Fiora close to him, and stood there, holding her as close as he could. The rest of us averted our eyes as best we could. And when her Pegasus fell lame that stormy day, Fiora rode in the saddle behind him, so close that not even raindrops could come between them.

I must admit that I rode even closer than that to my steadfast knight of Caelin when we left the Dragon's Gate. The injuries I had taken made me weak, and not even Priscilla could heal them entirely. So I rode in front of Kent, his arms wrapped around my shoulders, holding the reins loosely in his hands. And I must also admit that I faked injury as long as possible, so that I might ride with him.

But that is not to be thought of now. Kent is forever my steadfast guard. Even now he follows me to my room, lance at his side. I should sleep, my advisors tell me, for tomorrow there will be more planning to do. For my wedding.

A Sacaen should never go through this, I decide as I reach my door. My father would have attempted to arrange a marriage for me when I grew older, but if I was in love, truly in love, with someone else, he would not have forced me into anything. Just as no man of Sacae forces their daughters into marriage.

And I am a Sacaen, moreso than I am a noblewoman. I should not be paralyzed by these fears of what my people will think of me. I should not even have subjects, who will do what I command.

"Goodnight, Lady Lyndis," Kent tells me, and I realize that we have reached the door. He does not smile tonight, as he has smiled every night upon bidding me goodnight since we returned to Caelin. He does not tell me to sleep well, or to dream of the plains, as he sometimes jests. And, what is worse, he does not call me Lyn.

I should act. Oh-so-noble Kent had acted when he grabbed my hand and would not let go. In the middle of a battle, no less! He, who was always afraid of offending me, had acted when his emotions had told him to. And I could not.

"Kent," I say, letting the word hang there in the silence.

When it becomes clear that I will not say any more, my red knight lowers his eyes. "Yes, milady Lyndis?"

Why oh why does he insist on calling me that? He stood guard inside the meeting room. He _knows_ that I am not happy about the marriage, just as Eliwood is unhappy about it. He should know that we do it only for our subjects, for our lands. He should know this. "Kent, I…" I cannot say it, for all that I want to. "Good-night, Kent."

"Of course, milady." The reply is reserved, but not cold. Broken, but understanding. "The same to you."

I cannot look at his face as I close the door, and sink to the ground. My back rests against the ancient oak, and it is comforting. There is so little between us, only the door. Only a thick piece of wood. One of Kent's axes could chop through it in a few easy strokes.

The minutes tick by, and turn to hours. How many, I do not know, but I am still seated on the cold stone floor, my back pressed against the door. He must still be on the other side, he must. Unless Sain has come to replace him, or perhaps Wallace. It is fitting that the three men closest to me are the ones who guard my door at night.

I stand, hand reaching for the bolt and drawing it open. He must still be there, he must. The others can't have come yet, for I have things to say to Kent that cannot wait until the morrow.

And when I fling the door open, he is standing there, my loyal knight, eyes half-closed with sleep, but standing at attention. "Milady?" he asks sleepily, clearing his throat. "Is something troubling you that I may help with?"

It is, I realize, the time to act. So I step forward, stomach twisting in ways I had never imagined, and wrap my arms around his neck, pulling the most loyal of knights into the most passionate kiss I can muster.

He does not respond for the first moment, but soon I find that Kent, my loyal Kent, is kissing me back, more fiercely than I am kissing him. He is my knight, and I would be shamed if we were caught thus, but I cannot help it as his arms, lance still in hand, circle around my waist, pulling me closer.

And then, suddenly, he has broken lose, eyes wide with disbelief. "Lyn," he whispers, and my heart sings. Lyn! "Lyn, we should not- we _cannot_."

"No one will see," I assure him, stepping forward again. And he, the most loyal of knights, steps back, maintaining the distance between us.

"It is not someone seeing that matters," Kent replies, his words coming slow as honey through a cheesecloth, as if he must force the words out. "It is that you are betrothed to Lord Eliwood, milady… And I am a knight. I cannot besmirch milady's name in such a way."

"But Kent, if I am ruined, he will not have to take me anymore!" I cry. I know that Kent has too much honor to even consider ruining me, making me unwanted by any man of rank. I know that I am speaking out of desperation, but I do not care. "He can have Fiora, for he loves her more than he loved Ninian! He does not want me, just as I do not want him!"

He shakes his head, holding his lance in both hands as if expecting me to rush. "Lord Eliwood is a fine man, milady… He will treat you kindly, and provide you with all that you need."

I shake my head fiercely in return, licking my lips to find them wet and salty. I am crying, and had not even realized it. "No, Kent, he cannot! I need you with me Kent, please. Just as you need me. We need it more than anyone needs the damned alliance between two countries who have never been to war."

Kent frowns and shakes his head from side to side. But he shakes it slower than he had before, which must mean something, anything. "Lyn- milady… The papers have been signed."

"Damn the papers!" I cry, throwing myself at him and clinging in his arms as his lance clatters to the floor. "Damn the signatures, damn the seals! I care naught if my word doesn't count for anything in Pherae or Ostia or Caelin. We could live on the plains, Kent, on the plains!"

His arms are circling around my waist. He could not draw me any closer than I already am, as tightly as I am clinging, but suddenly, I am wrapped in him, as completely as one could be. "On the plains, Lyn."

And then, he is kissing me, and I am kissing him. I begin to back slowly into my bedchamber, and he follows, not breaking the kiss until it comes time to breathe. He looks at me questioningly when we are fully inside, but I simply smile, tear myself from his embrace, and close the door. "We can leave tomorrow," he says.

Lips meet again, then draw apart. "We can leave now," he adds.

"Tonight," I agree, kissing him again. "But not now."

"No," Kent replies, smiling. "Not now." And with that, he draws me even closer.

In a few hours, Sain will arrive for the midnight shift and discover Kent's lance lying in the hallway. He will smile and laugh and think of a million bawdy jokes to tell in the morning- preferably when Kent is around. Wallace will come just before dawn, and Sain will not tell him anything, but hide nearby to see Wallace's face when Kent emerges from the door.

Yet the hours will pass, and we will not emerge. Eventually, someone will become suspicious and enter, and they will find neither their lady of Caelin or the red-armored Knight Commander. I

Instead, they will find an unmade bed with rumpled sheets, which will leave everyone from the servants to the court ladies gossiping (and for once, their gossip will be true). They will also find a note, signed and sealed by my hand, that decrees I leave Caelin in Ostian control, as a wedding present for the Ostian Lord and his lavender-haired Pegasus knight.

In a post script, they will find a few more sentences, telling Lord Eliwood that if he had only arranged his marriage with Fiora sooner, he would have received part of it, too. They will find that I have left my blessings for their wedding.

And we, my ever noble Kent and I, will be on the plains. We will live in a small hut made of animal skins and thatched plains grass. We will live happily, live freely.

Yes, on the plains, we will live. And all because I opened the door.

# # #

Okay. Turned out differently than I had expected (I had thought it would be a "lost love" sort of thing, between both couples)… But it's after two in the morning now. I'm allowed to change my mind as wanted.

Reviews are appreciated, and may very well be reciprocated!


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